//------------------------------//
// Chapter three 
// Story: Survival 
// by Evilhumour 
//------------------------------//

Twilight held the sobbing pony in her hooves, rubbing her back and nuzzling her head in hopes to stop her shaking. She had come into their bedroom after waiting ten minutes for her Lulu, late for the same date she had been insisting on having, and she was determined to give the mare a piece of her mind.

She had been muttering ‘you’re late’ under her breath the entire way, the guards and maids darting out of her way, as they were still getting used to her newfound angry outlashes when disturbed. 

She pushed the door open and all her anger drained away in an instance as she saw her marefriend in the throes of a horrid nightmare on the balcony floor. 

She screamed her name and held her close to her chest, crying in shame for daring to be angry with Luna, when she had put so much into keeping Canterlot from falling again. 

“Luna, I’m here,” she told her special somepony, brushing her mane and rocked her like her mother used to do, like Luna did for her when she first had nightmares of that day when everything went wrong. “It’s ok, you’re safe.” Luna was still fighting her, still more than likely still stuck in her own version of Tartarus right now.

Twilight did the one thing she knew that always helped her when she was like this. She leaned down and kissed her head gently, just below her horn.

“I’m here, Lulu.” She said it with all the love in her heart, surprising herself how much was still there.

She felt Luna pause for a moment before tackling her, holding her close with all her might. Twilight continued to hold her close, letting Luna settle herself. She didn’t care that all her schedules would need to be redone, as Luna needed her now.

Finally, Luna stopped sobbing and shaking, and nuzzled her back, a blush on her beautiful blue face and it made Twilight’s heart swell to see it. 

“So, Luna, do you want to talk about it?” Twilight smiled, brushing away some of the starry mane that was still powder blue away from her face, which she was sure that Luna kept for her by this point.

“N-no, my lovely pony,” Luna blushed again, looking to the side. ““Twas nothing.”

Twilight paused, and then stared at the alicorn in front of her. “Luna, please don’t lie to me,” She stroked Luna’s face, leaning into nuzzle her mare again. “Please, let me in.”

Luna bit her lip, looked off to the side and then after some time, finally sighed and spoke to her.

“I had a nightmare, dear Twilight.” The beautiful mare leaned down on the floor, as if trying to disappear from sight by seeping into the very ground. “I was going to meet th-, you, for our date when you turned into one of them. Then I was surrounded by our guards, and then, yo-”

Twilight silenced her with her lips, kissing her quiet. She wrapped her wings around her mare, holding her close like Luna had done when she had her own bouts of nightmares of the chaos that destroyed Ponyville and nearly toppled Canterlot, of all the friends she lost and the ones she was still unsure if they still had heartbeats.

As much as she wanted to fly over to the Crystal Empire to see if she was truly the last of the Sparkle House, Equestria needed her here more. 

Canterlot needed her more her than finding out if her brother still breathed air or not.

Luna needed her more than ever before and she would not leave until her moon was well once more.